I agree pinkorchid. I would fear being a school teacher today, especially in an area with small minded people or corruption. I used to be a preschool teacher, for years. One day, I read about a case of an intellectual type girl who moved to a small town and got a job at a preschool. She had nothing in common with the women at the preschool who didn't not like her much and thought she felt she was smarter than them. Eventually, dislike morphed into allegations of satanic, ritual sex abuse. I think she spent a few years in jail before charges were dropped, I can't remember exactly. It was somewhere in the east, IIRC.
Well, I began working at a school where some of the other teachers and the director were somewhat shallow, gossipy, *****y women. The parents loved me but some of the staff did not. I had nothing in common with them and I frankly think they felt threatened by me. For one, I was smarter than many of them. Sorry if that sounds arrogant, but I was. I could reach a couple of children that no one else could, with patience, persistence and love. I think that bothered them. The biggest threat, however, was that I complained.
This school was not following basic health and safety code mandates about hygiene. Nap mats were supposed to be assigned to specific kids and not switched around. The mats were supposed to be disinfected after every nap and the kids were supposed to sleep on a covering, instead of a bare mat. This was to prevent the spread of disease. There were also issues with disposal of diapers and hygiene with respect to the diaper changing area and toilets. It all looked fine but we had several classes of preschoolers and toddlers sharing the bathroom and diaper changing facilities and the way the school flouted state codes appalled me. Once, the state came to inspect. The director stalled him while sending an assistant into where the kids were napping, hastily putting mat covers underneath the kids. They knew they were not following codes.
Anyhow, I was reprimanded for cleaning too much. For example, I disinfected the lunch tables and chairs after the kids ate and were playing. I was told i could not do that and still effectively watch the kids, even though there were three of us outside. Well, I didn't like any of this and mentioned, "Aren't we going against state codes?" The director got huffy with me.
The worst was diaper changing. Each staff member had a diaper shift during which they would change all the toddlers diapers, one at a time. It took around half an hour. If I got any shift after the first one of the day, I would find children with crap encrusted in their genitals. It appeared that other staff were not properly cleaning the kids. I was disgusted and voiced my disgust. I mean, come on! These were someone's children sitting in feces for hours at time! I would go nuts if that was my kid! (In fact, I remember one parent pulled their child after noticing she was always dirty. The director simply said the dad was a "complainer". )
Anyhow, I made darn sure that the kids were cleaned - hands washed before naps, properly cleaned when I changed their diapers. I disinfected surfaces after use, basic stuff. And, they disdained me for it probably because they did not think such things were important. Then, some of the staff began labeling me the "butt doctor" to make fun of me for being diligent about cleaning the kids after they pooped. That did it for me. I remembered the case of that lady back east and I quit. I saw how this band of harpies were resentful of me and I knew that a group of lazy gossips could ruin a life. That was the last time I ever taught preschool.
